Camps focus on Hispanic market

Spanish-speaking counselors hired

Children's refrains of "but my friends are going to camp," heard by parents worldwide helped persuade the Restrepo family to consider letting their two children go away to summer camp this year.

"We are still just considering it," said the children's mother, Claudia Restrepo.

Restrepo and her husband, Charles, who were born in New York but are of Colombian descent, don't plan to send their children for more than a two-week session. They went with Claudia, 14, and Carlos, 12, to the Summer Camp Fair in Boca Raton last month.

The camps tried to interest the Restrepo family and others at the fair as camps increasingly focus on Hispanics.

Just 5 percent of campers are Hispanic, according to a national survey conducted by the Indianapolis-based American Camp Association.

"We have found that many adults in the Hispanic community have not had a camp experience," said Ann Sheets, association president. "It's always a challenge for adults who didn't go to camp to understand what it's about."

Camps have tried to tap into the Hispanic market in recent years by traveling to South America to recruit campers and hiring more counselors who speak the language, Sheets said. Camps also are using technology, such as online photo galleries, to help parents and children feel more connected to each other.

Enid Marcus, who works at French Woods camp in New York, was at the Boca Raton fair last month, hoping to increase sign-ups from South Florida. "It's a matter of trust and building a bond with the parents," Marcus said.

The camp helps build parents' trust by recruiting more counselors who can speak to the parents in Spanish, she said.

Camps in South Florida buck the trend and likely have more Latino campers than other parts of the country, said Laura Wallace, unit director of Kampus Kampers in Boca Raton.

"We get a fair deal of campers who are Hispanic from Venezuela and other parts of Latin America coming up," Wallace said. "That's probably why we would have more Spanish-speakers."

The same can be said for Baseball School in Delray Beach, which offers housing to the players.

"We get them from all over the South American countries," said Larry Hoskin, vice president and general manager of the camp. "They love baseball, and they feel right at home. It's really not much of a problem."

Monitoring services that camps are starting to offer can help ease parents' concerns about sending their children away.

For instance, Blue Ridge Camp, based in Georgia, offers parents the chance to view online photo galleries of their children through the camp's password-protected site, said one of the camp's directors, Joey Waldman, who recruited at the Boca Raton fair.

Other camps, such as Culture Camp, run by the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches, are trying to incorporate multicultural curricula. The campers go on field trips to mosques and speak about their cultures.

"The kids actually talk about a personal experience, a certain thing they do in their country," said Eileen Donohoe, director of religious education for the church.

The Restrepos walked away from the Boca Raton camp fair with a better idea of what is available.

"This would be their first year," Claudia Restrepo said. "They're older now, and I would like them to go to the same camp together."

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

Special section

What will your child be doing this summer? If you're not sure, our list of summer camps could provide the answer.

There's something for just about every youngster. There are physical activities such as karate, surfing and archery. Or, for the more artistic, drama, music or dance. Before making your final choice, check out our list of questions you should ask and things you should know.

Rachel Hatzipanagos can be reached at rhatzipanagos @sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6621.